Senior Al-Qaeda Figure Said Killed In U.S. Drone Strike

ISLAMABAD -- A senior Al-Qaeda figure and at least four other suspected Islamist militants have been reported killed in a U.S. drone strike in northwestern Pakistan.

Intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity and Taliban sources confirmed that Abu Kasha al-Iraqi, said to be a high-ranking Al-Qaeda planner and facilitator, was killed late on September 24 when a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles at a compound in North Waziristan.

A correspondent for RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal says Taliban sources confirmed that another Al-Qaeda operative, Abu Saleh "Turki," was also among militants killed in the strike near Mir Ali, the main town in the region.

North Waziristan is one of seven tribal districts along the Afghan border where Al-Qaeda-linked militants are believed to have hide-outs.

On September 22, a drone targeting a vehicle in the same district killed three people.

With additional reporting by dpa

Radio Mashaal was launched in January 2010 in order to counter a growing number of Islamic extremist radio stations in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the border with Afghanistan.